The States Power To Tax In The Investment Arbitration Of Energy Disputes

The State’s Power to Tax in the Investment Arbitration of Energy Disputes Outer Limits and the Energy Charter Treaty Cornel Marian States today are expected not only to regulate the efficient and safe production and distribution of energy to end-users but also to incentivize increased production of energy and the transition to clean energy. In recent years, states are increasingly relying on taxation measures to address the economic challenges affecting the energy sector. This book provides the first in-depth exploration of the intersection between the treaty investment protection regime and taxation measures, as these materialize in investor-state energy disputes. With the analysis of all known and pending cases under the Energy Charter Treaty (ECT), as well as non-ECT cases and bilateral investment treaties which have heavily influenced ECT jurisprudence, the author develops a deeply informed energy tax policy that greatly mitigates the points of tension in the current regime. He closely investigates the following elements of the subject: aligning the ECT Taxation Article with the taxation articles of other investment treaties; tracing current case law to the original arbitration decisions involving tax measures; extrapolating the interplay of taxation provisions with substantive standards of investment protection as reviewed by international arbitral tribunals; evaluating the outer limits of the state’s power to tax under investment treaties and public international law; and addressing how the Yukos arbitration case has changed the framework of taxation issues in investment arbitration. In a clear and concise manner, the author provides the necessary framework to dissect any taxation chapter of an investment treaty and presents tools for the development of long-term tax policy and the adoption of model taxation clauses for sustainable investment protection mechanisms. The book takes a giant step toward meeting the ECT’s mandate to promote long-term cooperation in the energy field with a set of defined objectives focusing on trade, cooperation, energy efficiency, and environmental protection. It will be of immeasurable value to states in developing tax-specific investment incentive schemes as well as to investors in completing a necessary level of due diligence against possible adverse tax measures. Practitioners and academics with a focus on international arbitration will benefit from the book’s systematic approach to the complex taxation provisions of investment protection treaties and more readily recognize the “red flags” attached to national taxation provisions and their impact on investments in the energy sector.

Prabhash Ranjan explores the two competing narratives of investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) and focuses on the six ISDS cases India lost. On the one hand, ISDS is chastised for affronting the State’s sovereign regulatory power – the Philip Morris narrative. On the other hand, ISDS allows investors to hold States accountable for abuse of public power – the Yukos narrative. This book argues that India’s ISDS story resembles the Yukos narrative. With a focus on six case studies, this book examines the reasons that led to foreign investors suing India and the following developments. These ISDS claims are divided into four categories: a case arising from judicial actions, claims brought because of the cancellation of a contract to lease spectrum, conflicts resulting from the imposition of retroactive taxes, and disputes arising from the actions of sub-national governments. Based on India’s recent treaty practice, the book also contends that India is de-legalizing and de-judicializing international investment law. By telling India’s ISDS story, the book drives home the point that rectifying the ISDS system's flaws requires both narratives' centrality. Excessive focus on the Philip Morris narrative will replace the existing imbalances with a new one where the scale tilts towards the States to the detriment of foreign investment. This is a useful reference for scholars and practitioners interested in ISDS and its implications for India.

International Arbitration Law Library Volume 59 The eastward shift in international dispute resolution has already involved initiatives not only to improve support for international commercial arbitration (ICA) and investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) but also to develop alternatives such as international commercial courts and mediation. Focusing on these initiatives and their accompanying case law and trends in the Asia-Pacific region, this invaluable book challenges existing procedures and frameworks for cross-border dispute resolution in both commercial and treaty arbitration. Specially assembled for this project, an outstanding team of experienced and insightful arbitrators and scholars describes pertinent developments including: ICA and ISDS in the context of China’s Belt and Road Initiative; the Singapore Convention on Mediation; the shift to virtual hearings and other challenges from the COVID-19 pandemic; mistrust of the application of the rule of law in certain East Asian jurisdictions; growing public concern over ISDS arbitration; tensions between confidentiality and transparency; and potential regional harmonisation of the public policy exception to arbitral enforcement. The contributors chart evolving practices and high-profile cases to make informed observations about where changes are needed, as well as educated guesses about the chances of reforms being successful and the consequences if they are not. The main jurisdictions covered are China, Hong Kong, Japan, Malaysia, India, Australia and Singapore. The first in-depth study of recent trends in dispute resolution practice related to business in the Asia-Pacific region, the book’s practical analysis of new resources for dealing with the increasing competition among countries to become credible regional dispute resolution hubs will prove to be of great value to specialists in the international business law sector. Lawyers will be enabled to make informed decisions on which venue and dispute resolution methods are the most suitable for any specific dispute in the region, and policymakers will confidently assess emerging trends in international dispute resolution policy development and treaty-making.

A detailed article-by-article commentary on the Energy Charter Treaty, including coverage and analysis of the Treaty's history, background, jurisprudence, and reference to relationships with other treaties.

This open access book focuses on public actors with a role in the settlement of investment disputes. Traditional studies on actors in international investment law have tended to concentrate on arbitrators, claimant investors and respondent states. Yet this focus on the "principal" players in investment dispute settlement has allowed a number of other seminal actors to be neglected. This book seeks to redress this imbalance by turning the spotlight on the latter. From the investor's home state to domestic courts, from sub-national governments to international organisations, and from political risk insurance agencies to legal defence teams in national ministries, the book critically reviews these overlooked public actors in international investment law.

The Yearbook Commercial Arbitration continues its longstanding commitment to serving as a primary resource for the international arbitration community, with reports on arbitral awards and court decisions applying the leading arbitration conventions and decisions of general interest to the practice of international arbitration as well as announcements of arbitration legislation and rules. Volume XLV (2020) includes: excerpts of arbitral awards made under the auspices of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) and the Milan Chamber of Arbitration (CAM), as well as twelve awards reflecting the practice of tribunals constituted under the auspices of the Arbitration Institute of the Stockholm Chamber of Commerce (SCC); notes on new and amended arbitration rules, including references to their online publication; notes on recent developments in arbitration law and practice in Ethiopia, Lithuania, Macao SAR, Palau, Peru, Poland, Portugal, Russian Federation, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Switzerland, Tanzania, Thailand, and Tonga; excerpts of 87 court decisions applying the 1958 New York Convention from 27 countries – including, for the first time, a selection of seven cases from Egypt, and cases from Tanzania and Uzbekistan – all indexed by subject matter and linked to the commentaries on the New York Convention published in the Yearbook, authored by former General Editor and leading expert Prof. Dr. Albert Jan van den Berg; excerpts from two decision applying the 1965 Washington (ICSID) Convention and seven decisions applying the 1975 Panama (Inter-American) Convention, as well as a selection of four court decisions of general interest; an extensive Bibliography of recent books and journals on arbitration. The Yearbook is edited by the International Council for Commercial Arbitration (ICCA), the world’s leading organization representing practitioners and academics in the field, under the general editorship of Prof. Dr. Stephan W. Schill and with the assistance of the Permanent Court of Arbitration, The Hague. It is an essential tool for lawyers, business people and scholars involved in the practice and study of international arbitration.

The OECD's goal in Action 14 of the BEPS Action Plan -- of making dispute resolution mechanisms more effective -- is a major aspect of the evolving transnational regime for tax. One of the most central questions is whether mandatory arbitration will be established. As international taxation is entering a new era, it is important to consider the possible models and practices that could be used to develop a robust arbitration mechanism to address tax disputes. This Article focuses on the key aspects (both procedural and substantive) of international investment arbitration and places them in the context of the current debate on international tax disputes. The aim is to review the core aspects of investment arbitration to see which (and to what extent) procedures may fit the global tax policy aspirations. Overall, when we compare tax treaty arbitration to arbitration of investment disputes, what are the advantages and disadvantages for governments and taxpayers/foreign investors of these systems (e.g., transparency, appointment of arbitrators, excess of authority, third party funding, treaty shopping, publication of awards, independence of arbitrators, etc.)? In order to reach a sustainable mechanism which could find support from both sides, which lessons can be learned from arbitration of investment disputes? In other words, which specific practices in the arbitration of investment disputes should and should not be adopted in tax treaty arbitration? To answer these questions, this Article reviews the restrictions in the scope of arbitrable issues under both tax and investment treaties. It also looks at the enforcement of international awards. The Article also explores the role of national courts and considers the initiation of international disputes and the role of States. The analysis is then further expanded to discuss the recurring issue of the costs of arbitration. Finally, the conclusion summarizes the advantages and disadvantages of international arbitration to address transnational tax issues.

Establishing a factual basis on which to apply the law can be an extraordinarily challenging process, and perhaps more so in international arbitration than in any other proceedings, due to the very different notions of fact-finding that prevail among jurisdictions. This important book assesses, for the first time, the contours of an emerging transnational law of fact-finding that promises to greatly enhance the efficiency and reliability of this crucial arbitral procedure. In his analysis, focusing on bases that reflect current (but fluid) transnational practice, the author assembles a viable lex evidentiae from an in-depth examination and synthesis of the following bodies of source material: published arbitration proceedings and awards; the general framework of fact-finding issues as provided for under the arbitration acts of England and Wales, the United States, Germany, Brazil, Spain, Switzerland, Austria, and Italy, as well as under the Model Law; fact-finding stipulations under UNCITRAL Arbitration Rules as well as under various institutional rules; soft law (such as the IBA Rules, Prague Rules, ALI/UNIDROIT Principles of Transnational Civil Procedure); best practices as captured by legal commentary; and investment arbitration proceedings, where many decisions and awards are nowadays publicly available. In the course of the analysis, a comprehensive description and analysis of what fact-finding entails, including both gathering of facts and taking of evidence, is fully elaborated. Given that it is an essential task of international arbitration proceedings to define the disagreements between the parties and seek to determine the truth, the international arbitration community must be able to rely on a robust, consistent, and predictable, albeit flexible and adaptive, set of fact-finding rules. Against this background, the present study not only provides a stocktaking of current practice but also makes a signal contribution to meeting the need for legal certainty and reliability in international arbitration.

In international arbitration as practiced today, few issues are as controversial and hotly debated as the foreign enforcement of an arbitral award that has been annulled in its originating jurisdiction. As more and more jurisdictions challenge such annulments, the issue has inevitably attracted the intense scrutiny of practitioners and scholars. Now, in the first book written on the subject--and a major work unlikely to be superseded for quite some time--the international practitioner and scholar Dr. Hamid G. Gharavi provides a keen, in-depth analysis of the sources, legal and practical grounds, and possible solutions of the problem, particularly as it affects international business transactions in the global economy. Dr Gharavi analyzes the relevant provisions in all major international arbitration conventions, as well as national laws on the annulment and enforcement of arbitral awards in force in more than fifty different countries. Among the book's most notable features are the following: invaluable information on, and an in-depth analysis of, the travaux pr?paratoires of the New York Convention pertaining to the articulation of annulment/enforcement controls; the effects of the cultural, judicial, and legal diversity of states; and clear elucidation of the interests that often separate North from South in the practice of arbitration. With detailed attention to theoretical and practical perspectives--especially as they reveal the dangers to which the enforcement of annulled awards can subject international business operators-- Dr Gharavi arrives, after consideration of all interests, at a global resolution aiming to establish an effective and harmonious international legal framework for the control of awards in accordance with the nature and mission of arbitration.